I thought this move was pretty much what I expected it to be. OVER THE TOP in almost every facet. It was ok. I went in with SUPER LOW expectations, so I didn't walk out feeling cheated. Did this movie remind anybody else of STREET FIGHTER: THE MOVIE? With Jean-Claude Van Damme. But you know, on a way bigger scale and budget? All in all it was like watching a live action rendition of the cartoon. So I guess mission accomplished?

I really, really hope the producers and director realize how much the fans HATE the new look of Cobra Commander and go back to this original or hooded look for future films. Whoever came up with this idea should have been fired.

It doesn't look like it captures the spirit of the G.I. Joe I remember, and the Baroness looks to have been terribly miscast. It's still G.I. Joe though and I'll go see it.

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That's what I said almost two weeks ago. Now here's my assessment...

I agree with those who said that the trailer and promo shots didn't do the movie justice. It turned out better than I thought. Did it capture the spirit of the G.I. Joe I remember afterall? I can't give a simple 'yes' or 'no' answer to that. What I will say is that this movie did an impressive job of re-imagining G.I. Joe as a 2009 live-action motion picture and I can't think of anything right now that was really bad or too over the top. The world of high-tech weaponry and megalomaniacal villains was set up pretty nicely, followed some good internal logic, and played out equally well. The ending however was about what you'd expect from movies like this. A lot of noise and destruction with not much else. Some characters underwent some changes but beyond that, it wasn't anything special. Overall, I'd say this movie was 'above average'.

Of all the information released about this God-awful movie, the Baroness is the only thing they've done right.

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Sienna Miller's Baroness was undoubtedly easy on the eyes and her character worked well for the story they set up, but still, I found myself wishing they had given us the cold eastern european villainess I remember. I would have preferred that to the sassy all-american girl we got. I'm also not sure how I feel about her having been under the influence of nanobots instead of having gone bad on her own. Her being good now is an interesting twist for G.I. Joe though. There's no real Baroness anymore. I wonder where they plan to go with that.

More points...

- Good intro. Not what you'd expect from a G.I. Joe movie.

- Christopher Eccleston was fantastic as James McCullen. I was also impressed with how they made him Destro. I was wondering how they'd bring a metal mask into the live-action format and make it work, and they did it to my satisfaction.

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt rubs me the wrong way in his interviews. He comes off as a little sanctimonious. He did however play a great Doctor-tuned-Cobra Commander. As The Doctor, he reminded me of Keanu Reeves. Maybe I should call him Keanu Reeves: Cobra Commander. By the way, I do wish they had gone with the hood instead of that mask thing he ended up with.

- The movie was fun and easy to follow, but I have to ask... How and why exactly did a young, skinny soldier become an evil megalomaniac bent on world conquest? I must have missed something.

It's a big, dumb summer action flick. You have an equal chance of liking it or not. I'll be curious to see how many people who throttled TF2 give Joe's mindless, juvenile, ridiculous story a pass.

Personally, I was entertained by it, but not as much as I was for TF2.

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I don't think that Revenge of the Fallen was the train-wreck people are making it out to be either. Like I said earlier, I think high expectations played a part in why so many people trashed TF2 while low expectations helped G.I. Joe.

- The movie was fun and easy to follow, but I have to ask... How and why exactly did a young, skinny soldier become an evil megalomaniac bent on world conquest? I must have missed something.

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They showed that. He was a techy geek who went over to the dark side because he was so enthralled with what Mindbender and Destro were doing.

Sienna Miller's Baroness was undoubtedly easy on the eyes and her character worked well for the story they set up, but still, I found myself wishing they had given us the cold eastern european villainess I remember. I would have preferred that to the sassy all-american girl we got. I'm also not sure how I feel about her having been under the influence of nanobots instead of having gone bad on her own. Her being good now is an interesting twist for G.I. Joe though. There's no real Baroness anymore. I wonder where they plan to go with that.

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She'll be back. I guarantee it. The mind-control will either win out or she'll struggle with it like Bruce Banner or something like that.

I found their take on her interesting. She's kind of become quite the sex symbol nowadays. A hot, geeky, dominatrix speaks quite well to certain male demographics. Which is probably why they made her into the bad girl who's really a good girl underneath and just needs a hug to make her see the light. Which is quite the opposite of her cartoon counter part. Who was shrill, annoying, mustache-twirling and quite frankly not that sexy.

The director's partner asked him to do a cameo. He agreed to play Gung Ho, not knowing what Gung Ho looked like. Not wanting to look like "one of the Village People" he went to wardrobe and picked out his own stuff making up a new character.

Saw the movie today, noon Twin Cities time, & loved it. Growing up watching the cartoon & getting what figures I could I have always been a big fan & after hearing that the movie was not screened for critics I was worried since that usually means the movie's gonna suck. Thank the Baroness it didn't.

Great action & effects. The acting won't garner any Oscars® but I didn't think it was that bad. Loved the scenes that went back in time to tell some of the main characters back story, was kind of surprised when Cobra Commander was actually Rex. I always liked the mysteriousness of the character’s true background & found him exceptionally creepy here. He wasn’t the fool the cartoon often made him out to be. Liked Marlon Wayans was great in this movie I thought, just the right amount of funny stuff to make the movie a bit lighter & Channing Tatum was great as Duke. I’d never heard of him until this movie, but thought he & Marlon played well off each other. As mentioned elsewhere Siena Miller and especially Rachel Nichols (love redheads) smokin’ hot & their fight scene was nothing I’d want to be in the middle of. Sadly Dennis Quaid didn't have more to do, as one can tell from my avatar I’m a fan. Maybe he’ll get more to do in the sequel because they did leave the movie wide open for one (pleas do well @ the box office).

The fighting between Snake & Storm was intense, the main event of the movie. The costume for Snake couldn’t have been comfortable at all & was it me or was he on the receiving end of a double-bladed weapon. I’m looking forward to seeing (actually seeing Ray Park) in Heroes. Storm could return in a second film, falling into the icy water could save his life for a plotline.

I actually liked the cameo Brendan Fraser made, maybe setting himself up for the sequel. The way Destro received his look was better than the mask Commander ended up with at the end, I kind of always liked how commander’s was always hidden. I would have liked to see a bit more of Heavy Duty or some other characters but I guess that will have to wait for the next one.

All in all a lot better than I thought it would be & I may see it again.

I had very, very low expectations for the movie going in. The trailer didn't impress me, nor did most of the casting, except for Ray Park. I was a major fan of GI Joe: A Real American Hero cartoon, not so much the 80's comics, and the trailers and info I was hearing about this movie sounded like apostasy. Plus, I got an early peek at CC's mask courtesy of this board and I damn near went ballistic.

But after I bought the GI Joe Season 1 set and looked back on the history of GI Joe, I can imagine that an older generation might've looked the same way on the 80's Joes that I revered. With that mindset, I tried to give the Joe movie a fair shake.

I thought it was pretty mindless, loud action, a little too CGI heavy at points. But looking back at the cartoon, with its fantastical elements, I can't fault most of the super hi-tech in the film, though I'm still not sold on the accelerator suits. And I don't get why they let the rookies wear them? I know I should leave logic and reason behind with this film, but it was a question that popped into my head.

I thought the Joes handled their roles fairly well. Marlon Wayans wasn't as bad as I thought he would be. I liked his flirtation with Scarlett. Hopefully a romance will develop there. Duke was okay, though I don't think he was as dashing as the cartoon Duke, though true to the cartoon, Tatum's Duke also had a penchant for getting captured. Rachel Nichols was quite the vision as Scarlett. I thought Breaker and Heavy Duty also had nice chemistry with the team, though they didn't do much. Ray Park was great as Snake Eyes, but I didn't like the molded look of his suit, particularly the lips. At first I thought that Dennis Quaid was a good choice for Hawk, but I think he overdid it a bit. I wished for the quieter gravitas of Bruce Greenwood's Pike.

As for Cobra, Eccelston (?) was fine as Destro, though I miss the deep bass voice of the cartoon version. Sienna Miller was passable as the Baroness, though I would've preferred the colder, hardcore East European (?) version from the cartoon. The cartoon Baroness was perhaps more over the top than Miller, but far more ruthless. I rolled my eyes at the Duke-Baroness relationship, but as the movie went on I didn't totally gag because it opens up some new territory for the characters to explore. Also, I felt a little better about Miller-Baroness's somewhat predictable, but totally out of character, change of heart after the flashback with Rex injecting her with the nanomites. I was wondering how Miller's character became such a villainous badass as I was watching the film, but the nanomites explain it. I was prepared to hate Rex, but I thought Levitt did a decent job. The voice was different than Chris Latta's, but creepy enough. I still don't like Cobra Commander's mask, but I didn't hate it as much when I saw it on the big screen as I did on the toy. It seemed a bit more metallic and somewhat in line with the Neo-Vipers.

I really liked the Neo-Vipers. They were pretty badass, and I liked their mask-helmets. I wish they had done a better job though accessorizing them for the winter base. I thought Vosloo made for a good Zartan. But I think my favorite Cobra was Storm Shadow. Watching the cartoons again, I realized how lame they made Storm Shadow. This movie corrected that. SS is pretty ruthless and far more effective than he ever was in the cartoon. The Snake Eyes-Storm Shadow fights were perhaps the best thing in the movie.

I think the ending was a pretty confident move on Sommers part. I hope he gets another chance, though I'm not sure if I want to see another installment. It is GI Joe, but it isn't my GI Joe.

But just in case I change my mind about a sequel...If there is a sequel I hope they bring in Gung Ho, Shipwreck, Flint, and Lady Jaye for the Joes. A cameo from Sgt. Slaughter wouldn't hurt either. For Cobra, I want to see Major Bludd-he was often unsung but I thought he was hard core. I wouldn't mind seeing Firefly, the Dreadnoks, Tomax and Xamot either.